Although
the stated goals of these two groups appear to be quite
different, the practical effect for individuals of both
is a change to a new life style.

by
Fr. Joseph h. Fichter, S.J.

A
spiritual conversion is an interior experience, a decision
for Christ, a change of heart, a turning of the mind away
from
vice and toward virtue, a relinquishing of the past and
an
embrace of the future. Something "happens" to
people who are
converted, as it did to Saul on the road to Damascus, and
often
this "happening" is not a personal choice. What
the Protestant
Pentecostals have been saying for a long time is now occurring
among Catholic charismatics; in the words of one of their
national leaders: "I am involved because I believe
that God has
touched me and that I have responsibilities as a result
of that
touch and call."

One
has only to attend a large charismatic prayer meeting,
or read the pages of New Covenant, to learn of the first-person
testimony of conversion. Reports a priest: "I felt
as if God took
off the top of my head and poured his peace into me and
that
simultaneously all the junk of my past life was draining
out of
my feet." Comments a young woman: "For me the
baptism of the Holy
Spirit was a particular moment in my life; a moment when
all time
seemed to stand still and I truly felt the presence of the
reality of Christ.

I

There
is a steadfast tradition in the 40-year history of the
Alcoholics Anonymous fellowship that practically every member
has
had a spiritual experience which "quite transforms
his outlook
and attitudes." Carl Jung in Zurich warned one of his
alcoholic
patients that his "only hope of salvation was a spiritual
experience." Bill W., co-founder of A.A., has told
of his own
conversion: He was in a hospital after a jag, deep in depression
because he could not overcome his addiction to booze. In
desperation he called on God for help. Then "suddenly
the room
lit up with a great white light. I was caught up in an ecstasy
which there are no words to describe."

It
would be going too far to say that every converted
alcoholic (or converted charismatic, for that matter) has
such a
dazzling spiritual experience. From reading A.A. Grapevine;
or attending an A.A. meeting, or listening to a member tell
his
story, one learns that "something happened" to
bring about
change; however, often it was not a quick illumination,
but
rather a gradual and increasingly insistent spiritual awakening.
Sometimes the conversion starts not with faith, but with
a desire
to believe: "God, if you do exist, and if you do answer
prayers,
give me the help I need."

II

In
simplistic terms the stated goals of these two groups
appear to be quite different. The purpose of A.A. is individual
and personal: that the alcoholic stay sober. The purpose
of the
charismatics is directed to the praise and glory of God.
The
practical effect on people, however, is that the goals tend
to
become means, and in both instances the outcome is a change
in
life style - the alcoholic's sobriety is a means of allowing
him
to lead a normal, nonaddictive life, while the charismatic's
prayerful praise of God is a constant reminder and inspiration
for living a more virtuous life.

The
spiritual conversion does not necessarily involve a
switch from a life of extreme immorality, although some
converts
are willing to testify to that. For alcoholism, the emphasis
has
changed from sin to sickness, and while there are still
people
who attribute moral weakness to the habitual drunkard, the
general consensus of the medical profession now is to diagnose
disease. Even so, physicians have not yet discovered a cure
for
the illness. The patient can be detoxified, perhaps medicated
and
given hospital care, but more and more physicians are
recommending the Alcoholics Anonymous program as the way
to
achieve sobriety.

The
recovered alcoholic is usually humbly ready to admit to
previous guilt feelings. This appears to be the case also
with
charismatics, all of whom say that they "know how it
feels to
repent and to experience the forgiveness of sins."
Their mystical
metanoia is, therefore, generally preceded by repentance
- and,
after all, this is what Peter preached to the people of
Jerusalem
at the first Pentecost. He told them to "turn away
from your
sins" and promised that "you will receive God's
gift, the Holy
Spirit."

One
of the lessons alcoholics - as well as charismatics - learn
the hard way is the possibility of a lapse after the
conversion experience. The alcoholic knows that a slip can
happen
even after years of sobriety. A popular A.A. slogan carries
the
reminder "But for the grace of God." To put oneself
trustingly in
the care of God means to live confidently one day at a time.
While many Catholic charismatics believe that to accept
Jesus as
their personal savior is a guarantee of eternal salvation,
they
also know that they can become remiss or drop out of the
fellowship completely.

III

Although
conversion is an individual and personal
experience, one of the secrets of staying converted is the
support of a group. The more frequently an alcoholic attends
A.A.
meetings, the more likely is he or she to eschew drink.
Further
undergirding regular attendance is the fact that an essential
part of the recovery program is for the member to carry
the
message to other alcoholics. While "the only requirement
for
membership is a desire to stop drinking," A.A. is a
program of
mutual help. New, or prospective members are called "pigeons"
whose main supporter, a "sponsor," looks after
them and sees that
they get to meetings. But the person helping is also the
person
helped. The 12th step of the program is, in a way, a kind
of
evangelism: to bring the good news to those who want and
need it,
and to increase the number of converts.

Dedicated
charismatic converts also reinforce their
spiritual strength by frequent contact with group members.
Susan
Anthony says that in her travels around the country she
makes use
of her list of charismatic prayer groups as well as her
list of
charismatic prayer groups as well as her list of A.A. groups.
Even when on the road she can keep in contact with her fellow
converts in both groups. Like alcoholics, charismatics follow
a
pattern of attending a group meeting every week, and some
do so
even more frequently. The enthusiastic member is also a
kind of
missionary, spreading the word to others and constantly
inviting
them to come up to prayer meetings.

Said
one cheerful alcoholic, who happens to be charismatic
as well: "I used to do plenty of talking in tongues
back in the
days when I was drinking." While the charismatic prayer
meeting
includes testimonials and glossolalia, it is also given
to guitar
music and the exuberant singing of hymns (most of them borrowed
from Protestant sources). The A.A. meeting, too, is suffused
with
enthusiasm, but of a quiet and determined sort. The meeting
regularly starts with a silent minute of gratitude to God
for
continuing divine support, followed by the group recitation
of
the Serenity Prayer. At the conclusion members repeat the
Lord's
Prayer sometimes joining hands, as is the common practice
among
charismatic prayer groups.

Membership
in enthusiastic convert groups seems to call out
a need for self-revelation. Witness in charismatic prayer
meetings is often personal testimony about how one's life
has
changed. These public "confessions" are often
frank and detailed
accounts of spiritual and moral waywardness in the past,
going on
to indicate how wonderful things have been since "finding
the
Lord." The willingness to confess is even more prevalent
among
recovered alcoholics. There appears to be almost a compulsion
to
reveal the problems, difficulties and obstacles the person
had
when drinking. In fact, it is often difficult to "turn
off" the
former drunkard who wants to tell you how he or she got
that way.
As some of them readily admit: "We used to drink too
much, and
now we talk too much."

IV

Having
attended the International Charismatic Congress at
Notre Dame and also the International A.A. Convention at
Denver,
I can attest to marked similarities in enthusiasm, joyfulness
and
spirituality in both groups. Attending as a sociological
observer, I had hoped for professional papers, results of
academic studies, research reports and scholarly discussion
from
panels of experts. What I found in both instances was like
a
gigantic revival meeting, with speakers encouraging everybody
to
stay converted and members greeting one another joyfully
- all in
an overall spirit of religious fervor. Wearing an anonymous
name
tag (just the first name) is characteristic of both
congregations.

The
camaraderie among A.A. members, their tight fellowship,
becomes even more evident when an "outsider" admits
to being a
nonalcoholic. The impression is given that one cannot really
understand these people and their illness, cannot really
appreciate their fellowship - and certainly cannot share
in it - without having personally been through these experiences.
There
is similar difficulty in trying to relate to charismatics.
The
"insiders" have had the privilege of baptism in
the Spirit, and
the impression is conveyed that they feel sorry for anyone
who
has not had this extraordinary good fortune and are eager
to lay
hands in prayer on him or her.

In
another interesting similarity, both fellowships proclaim
a distrust of organization and structure. They find it important
that no one have power and authority, except what they call
the
"authority of service." The charismatics top-level
group of
decision makers is the "Service Committee," and
the New York
headquarters of A.A. houses the "General Service Office."
There
is, however, a great deal more autonomy for both individuals
and
local groups within the A.A. fellowship than within the
charismatic movement. The latter has become more tightly
organized as its membership has increased - most prominently
in
the extent to which it accepts the model of the covenant
community.

One
important nationwide factor is found in communications.
A.A. publishes a sprightly monthly magazine, the Grapevine,
and
distributes books and pamphlets related to the field of
alcoholism. The charismatics also have a monthly publication,
the
New Covenant, and the communications center issues an annual
catalogue of cassettes and record albums, inspirational
books and
pamphlets offered for sale. Both organizations consider
their
periodicals a teaching instrument, but they also carry news
of
the movement and letters from readers. Both groups recognize
the
value of propaganda in getting the message across to members
and
nonmembers alike.

The
Grapevine regularly prints a "calendar" page,
listing
the dates and the places of meetings, conventions, rallies,
roundups and conferences. The references are to state and
regional gatherings, not to the local meetings which are
scheduled regularly and frequently. The charismatics issue
an
annual roster of member groups, with brief notations of
time and
place of meetings together with the name of each local group
leader. The New Covenant's coverage extends to announcements
of
forthcoming gatherings on the regional level, and much space
is
devoted to reports of large meetings held in both this country
and abroad.

The
spiritual conversion experienced by alcoholics and
charismatics is intended to carry the individual along in
a "new"
way of life, and it does for those who stay with it. This
before-and-after difference is obviously appreciated by
the
convert, but it is also observable by close friends and
family
members. This difference consists not simply of another
way of
relating to God, although that is the basis for changes
in
personal behavior and in dealing with fellow human beings.
The
11th step of the A.A. program is probably applicable to
the
charismatics too: we "sought through prayer and meditation
to
improve our conscious contact with God as we understood
Him,
praying only for knowledge of His will and the power to
carry
that out."